Why Do Woodpeckers Peck On Houses?

Do you hear the sound of a woodpecker pecking house? Here is why.

Woodpeckers can be annoying birds to have around your property. Their presence becomes even more unbearable when your home is being pecked at. This is due to the noise created from their pecking action.

To resolve the problem, questions need to be asked and answers found.

Woodpecker Drumming Sound On House

You might have grown out of patience with the constant pecking activity of these birds as they can be relentless. This article discusses all the reasons why you’re having such problems.

We’ve also included ways to resolve or stop the problem.

If you’re currently dealing with such issues, you’ll need to read along for answers.

The Constant Hammering Could Cause Damage to Property

Apart from the noise created from their feeding activity, the constant hammering to your home’s siding eventually leads to damage.

Therefore, the aim isn’t only to stop the noise, but also to prevent damage to your property.

The natural habitat of these birds is the wild. Woodpeckers will peck on trees. There’s a reason why they do this; the presence of food. Woodpeckers feed on a wide range of insects, tree sap, nuts, and fruits.

Examples of these include acorns, berries, cracked acorns, grapes, raisins, and pine seeds among others.

Basically, all small insects will be a ready attraction to woodpeckers hence the constant hammering action. So, could it be that insect presence in your home is the reason why woodpeckers are pecking on your house?

Why Is A Woodpecker Pecking On My House?

If you’ve been disturbed lately by woodpecker activity in your home, you’ll need to know why.

This allows you to take concrete steps towards addressing the problem. Woodpeckers will peck on your property for several reasons.

This includes food, preparing a nesting site, and also marking territory.

• Pecking for Food

We’ve earlier stated that woodpeckers feed on nuts, fruits, insects, and tree saps. So, why should they peck on your home when there are none of these? That actually isn’t true.

Larvae of carpenter bees and leafcutter bees among other insects are found on your home’s siding.

This is in addition to other insects. The mere presence of these larvae and insects serves as an incentive for woodpeckers to hammer on.

So, controlling them will require keeping your home’s siding free from insects.

However, that’s only a part of the problem.

• Prepping a Nesting Site

Apart from their natural habitat which is in the wild, woodpeckers will readily nest in areas considered suitable. Your home can be considered suitable enough, hence the pecking action or activity.

Woodpeckers will nest in signposts around a home, in fences as well as in building structures.

The relentless pecking isn’t only carried out for purposes of feeding but also to create a cavity. These birds build a nest within the cavity created.

To mask or camouflage their nest, lichen or fungus is used to surround the cavity entrance.

If you’re hoping to have some quiet after the cavity is created, that isn’t going to happen. These birds will continue hammering to feed.

Your property or home is at the receiving end as it steadily deteriorates due to such constant pecking.

• Marking a Territory

The pecking activity of woodpeckers serves several purposes. Apart from those mentioned above, the noise created from pecking serves to announce or mark the bird’s territory.

Also, the same pecking activity serves to attract a mate.

Here, it’s obvious that pecking offers multiple benefits to woodpeckers. So, any approach at containing the problem will have to focus on tackling these issues.

How To Stop Woodpecker From Pecking On House

When urgent steps aren’t taken to control woodpecker activity, you’ll have to endure the constant hammering which could be stressful.

Taking appropriate steps to resolve the problem can be carried out on different levels.

You can choose to call for professional help or adopt the DIY control strategy.

Which is best? Well, it depends on what you want. For professional treatment, skilled wildlife specialists carry out all sorts of actions to both remove the birds and repair or restore your property.

Certain installations may be carried out to keep out woodpeckers from your property. Most of the measures applied focus on the cause of the problem.

For best results, it’s important to call in the professionals at the earliest stage of the problem. That is the best time to have woodpeckers dislodged from your property.

DIY Control

DIY control of woodpeckers has a lot to do with prevention and exclusion.

This is for persons wishing to get the job done themselves. You may seek to cut down on expenses (which would have been spent in fees for professional woodpecker control) by getting the job done yourself.

Several preventive or control options are available to you. They include the installation of physical barriers, the use of scare techniques as well as trying out visual deterrents.

How do these work? Let’s have a look at each;

• Installation of Physical Barriers

In a bid to keep or prevent woodpeckers pecking at your house, you can adopt the physical barrier approach.

What is this about? As the name implies, physical barriers serve to keep or prevent woodpeckers from gaining access to pecking sites or areas.

These birds are known to be persistent and will choose a specific area to peck at. Having barriers such as steel mesh covering the area creates problems for woodpeckers.

They’re unable to peck through the steel mesh as it becomes increasingly difficult.

• Use of Scare Techniques

In addition to the use of physical barriers, you may decide to also deploy scare techniques. There are several types.

One of them includes noise scare techniques. Electronic scare devices are sold in the market. They let out a sudden burst of sound that mimics prey.

The problem with such a technique is that it may be effective for a while but eventually becomes less frightening to woodpeckers. This is because they discover that there’s no apparent danger following the sounds.

• Using Visual Deterrents

As the name suggests, visual deterrents are meant to disorient problematic birds like woodpeckers. You can make this from strips of aluminum, pinwheels, or reflective tape.

These are placed around areas of woodpecker activity. The issue with these is that such deterrents could create a mess in addition to scaring other harmless bird species.

Now you know why a woodpecker is pecking on your house.

We’ve gone further to include information on ways to contain the problem. You only need to carry out the preventive steps mentioned above to take back control of your property.